Common Name: Sydney Rock Oyster

Distribution: Common in estuaries and headlands throughout the Solitary Islands Marine Park. Endemic to Australia and New Zealand. In Australia it is recorded from northern Queensland south to eastern Victoria and northern Tasmania.

Ecological Notes: Found on rocky headlands and in sheltered bays and estuaries, depth from intertidal to shallow subtidal.

Additional Notes: Commonly seen in profusion on rocks in estuaries, they are the basis of a large commercial industry, particularly in New South Wales. A filter feeder, filtering planktonic algae from the water column. Growth rates vary with local conditions, and they are preyed upon by birds, fish, stingrays, mud crabs, some shells and sea stars. 

References: 

Graham J. Edgar. Australian Marine Life, 2nd Edition, 2008. Reed New Holland Publishers. p.345.

W.J. Dakins classic study, Australian Seashores, Isobel Bennett. A.O., M.Sc. Angus and Robertson Publishers, 1987. pp.321-4.

Atlas of Living Australia website at https://bie.ala.org.au/search?q=saccostrea+glomerata. Accessed 11/11/2018.